Sunday, February 24, 2008

Images credited to the National Science Foundation (THIS IMAGE), a federal agency, are in the public domain. The images were created by employees of the United States Government as part of their official duties or prepared by contractors as "works for hire" for NSF.

You may freely use NSF-credited images and, at your discretion, credit NSF with a "Courtesy: National Science Foundation" notation. Download the high-resolution JPG version of the image. (3.4 MB)

Full Moon Over Observation Hill A full moon behind the cross on Observation Hill at McMurdo Station, Ross Island, Antarctica. The cross stands as a memorial to the members of Sir Robert Falcon Scott's journey to the South Pole in 1911-1912. The National Science Foundation funds and manages the U.S. Antarctic Program (USAP), which carries forward the Nation's goals of supporting the Antarctic Treaty, fostering cooperative research with other nations, protecting the Antarctic environment, and developing measures to ensure only equitable and wise use of resources.

The program comprises research by scientists selected from universities and other research institutions and operations and support by a contractor and other agencies of the U.S. Government. NSF operates three U.S. scientific stations year-round on the continent: McMurdo Station located on the Ross Sea--Antarctica's largest station that serves as a "gateway" to Antarctica for U.S. scientific field teams as well as the hub for most of the U.S. scientific activity; Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, located 841 statute miles inland from McMurdo, at the geographic South Pole; and Palmer Station, located on Anvers Island in the Antarctic Peninsula region.

To learn more about the program, visit the USAP Web site. (Date of Image: Sept. 6, 2006) Credit: Eric Hobday, National Science Foundation